why do parents become involved? what can we do to encourage involvement?

Why Do Parents Become Involved? What Can We do to Encourage Involvement?

Kathleen V. Hoover-DempseyAssociate Professor, Psychology and Human Development

Peabody College, Vanderbilt University

Parental Information Resource Center (PIRC) Program

National Conference, Baltimore, MDJuly 31-August 1, 2007

With many thanks to . . .

. . . the Peabody Family-School Partnership Lab,

especially Christa Green, M.S., Manya Whitaker, B.A.,

Vanderbilt Universityand

Joan Walker, Ph.D.,

Long Island University

For further information, publications, papers, measures, and related information,

please see http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peabody/family-school

Why Do Parents Become Involved?

How did we come to this question?

As we reviewed the research literature

in the early 1990s,

we found . . .


We found . . .

• Good evidence that parental involvement in children’s education (preschool through adolescence) is linked to stronger student learning or improved student learning

• Very helpful work by Epstein suggesting the wide range of ways in which parents can be productively involved in children’s education

• But not so much evidence about – why parents become involved or – how their involvement influences student learning and

achievement


We then asked:• How can we best understand the parental/family involvement

process – the process through which parents: – decide to become involved– select types of involvement activities, and then– through the activities and mechanisms they engage in the

course of their involvement activities, – influence their children’s school learning and school

success? • How can we best model how this process works?

How can we best understand the parental/family involvement process?

The Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler Model

Level 1: Motivators of parental/family involvement: Why do parents become involved?

(Level 1.5) Parent choice of involvement forms (home-based, school- based, communications, community-based; others)

Level 2 Mechanisms of involvement’s influence (how does involvement ‘work’? encouragement, modeling, reinforcement, instruction)

Level 3 Student perceptions of parent mechanisms (these help ‘get parent involvement into the child’)

Level 4 Student outcomes: ‘Proximal’ attributes conducive to achievement (academic efficacy, motivation, self-regulation, social self efficacy for relating to teachers, others)

Level 5 Student outcomes: ‘Distal’ measures of achievement (standardized tests, grades; others)

Understanding Why Parents Choose to Become Involved (Level 1)

The model suggests that there are three major

kinds of variables that motivate parents to

Become involved:• Psychological motivators• Contextual motivators • Life context variables


Psychological Motivators

• Parental role construction: “Do I believe I’m supposed to be involved?”

• Parental sense of efficacy: “Do I believe that my involvement will make a difference?”


Contextual Motivators: Invitations from Others

• School climate: “Is the school inviting? Do people at the school ‘tell’ me they want my involvement?”

• Invitations from the teacher(s): “Does the teacher ask me to be involved? Does he/she offer specific requests and suggestions for my involvement?”

• Invitations from the child/student: “Does my child want or need my involvement?”


Family Life Context Variables• Parents’ knowledge and skills: these influence parents ideas

about:– What they can do that is (most) likely to be successful in

helping the child learn– What kinds of involvement they prefer

• Parents’ time and energy: these influence parents’ ideas about:– The involvement activities they can ‘do’ or engage in

• Parents’ culture: this influences parents’:– Ideas about their roles in their children’s education– Perceptions of appropriate involvement activities

Putting The Model to Work: What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement?

In general, understanding what we can do to

encourage parents’ involvement means: • Thinking well about our experiences with parental

involvement;• Thinking well about our own understandings of

reasons for parents’ decisions to become (or not become) involved;

• Thinking creatively about what we can do to encourage parents’ decisions to become involved

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Thinking about Parents’ Psychological Motivations for

Involvement

Parental role construction

1. In your experience, have you found that parents generally do (or do not?) believe that they’re supposed to be involved in their children’s school learning?

2. Why do you think parents believe (or don’t believe) that they’re supposed to be involved (i.e., that they can play an active role in their children’s school success?)

3. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to encourage parents’ beliefs that they have an active role to play in their children’s school success?

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Thinking about Parents’ Psychological Motivations for

Involvement

Parents’ sense of efficacy for helping the child learn1. In your experience, have you found that parents generally do

(or do not) believe that their involvement will make a positive difference in their children’s learning?

2. Why do you think that parents believe (or do not believe) that their involvement will make a positive difference in their children’s learning?

3. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to encourage parents’ beliefs that they can make a positive difference in their children’s school success?

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Thinking about Parent’s

Contextual Motivations for Involvement

Parents’ perceptions of school climate1. In your experience, do you believe parents have felt or feel

actively welcome in the school environment?

2. Why, or why not? (Please offer specific reasons.)

3. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to help parents’ believe that they are really welcome in the school?



Parents’ perceptions of specific invitations

from the teacher

1. In your experience, do you believe parents have received specific invitations to involvement from the child’s teacher(s)?

2. In your opinion, what has motivated teachers to offer specific invitations? (or: why do you think teachers have not been motivated to offer specific invitations?)

3. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to support teachers in offering specific invitations to involvement?



Parents’ perceptions of specific invitations from the child/student

1. In your experience, do you believe parent receive specific invitations to involvement from the child/student?

2. In your opinion, what has motivated children/students to ask their parents to be involved? (or: why do you think children/students have not asked their parents to be involved?)

3. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to encourage children/students to ask for their parents’ involvement?

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Thinking about Parents’ Life Context Variables

Responding to parents’ beliefs about their

knowledge and skills for supporting their children’s schooling

1. In your experience, how do parents think about using their knowledge and skills to support their children’s school success?

2. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to encourage parents to use their knowledge and skills in supporting their children’s school success?


Responding to the realities of parents’ time and energy

1. In your experience, what are the realities regarding the time and energies that parents in your program/classroom can bring to involvement in their children’s schooling?

2. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to develop involvement opportunities that fit within the time and energies that parents have to bring to involvement in their children’s schooling?


Responding to parents’ cultural values and beliefs

1. In your experience, what are some of the cultural beliefs that parents in your program/classroom bring to thinking about involvement in their children’s school learning?

2. What ideas have you tried (or thought about trying) to develop involvement opportunities that fit within the cultural beliefs that parents in your program/classroom bring to the possibilities of being involved in their children’s schooling?

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Other Ideas for Thinking about Parents’ Psychological

Motivators of Involvement

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Other Ideas for Thinking about Parents’ Perceptions of

Contextual Invitations to Involvement

What Can We Do to Encourage Involvement? Other Ideas for Thinking about Parents’ Life Context Variables

What Can We Do To Encourage Involvement? A Sample of Resources

why do parents become involved? what can we do to encourage involvement?

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